On the fence. That is how many Republicans appear to be feeling when it comes to this year’s election.
Based on news reports and published videos, many of those who voted for Trump in 2016 now regret that vote and are unsure if they want to support him again. Some of those people are well-known elected GOP officials, while many more are just plain folk.
If you are a fence-sitting Republican, or know any, I urge you to send them the links in this blog, which feature many Republicans who say they will now vote for Democrat Joe Biden.
Many people say that national political conventions don’t mean anything because only the party faithful pay attention, and maybe that’s true. But this year, we’re in a whole new ballgame. Republicans of all stripes are reconsidering their vote and may be watching.
Hopefully, those fence-sitters, who won’t listen to Democrats, will listen to their own.
During the first night of the Democratic national convention, some of those Republicans made it clear that they now support Biden and Kamala Harris. Many of them felt not only regret but betrayed by how Trump has handled the presidency.
Here is how the Huffington Post reported it:
“A handful of high-profile Republicans, including former Govs John Kasich of Ohio and Christine Todd Whitman of New Jersey, made virtual appearances at the Democratic National Convention on Monday.
“First, Whitman — who served as New Jersey’s governor from 1994 to 2001 and later as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under former President George W. Bush — described herself as a ‘lifelong Republican.’
“‘But this isn’t about Republican or Democrat. It’s about a person… who could work with everyone, Democrats and Republicans, to get things done,” said the vocal critic of President Donald Trump. ‘Donald Trump isn’t that person. Joe Biden is.’
“Next, Meg Whitman (no relation), a prominent business executive and current CEO of Quibi, took a dig at the president: ‘Let me tell you, Donald Trump has no clue how to run a business, let alone an economy,’ said the former CEO of Hewlett Packard and eBay.
“Both Whitmans supported Hillary Clinton over Trump in 2016.
“Former Rep. Susan Molinari (R-N.Y.), a GOP lobbyist, said she’s known Trump for most of her career, calling him “so disappointing and lately so disturbing.’” https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-endorse-joe-biden-dnc-2020-lection_n_5f3b4568c5b61100c3ab82e8
Pretty powerful stuff.
But they were all overshadowed by the emotional and moving speech by Former First Lady Michelle Obama, who, as usual, tried to bring people together and not tear them apart. In her speech, she pointed out one of Donald Trump’s major failings:
“Empathy: that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. The ability to walk in someone else’s shoes; the recognition that someone else’s experience has value, too. Most of us practice this without a second thought. If we see someone suffering or struggling, we don’t stand in judgment. We reach out because, ‘There, but for the grace of God, go I.’ It is not a hard concept to grasp. It’s what we teach our children.”
Empathy is something Trump simply does not have. If you didn’t hear her speech or just want to be inspired all over again, I urge you to listen to it once more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZwfEWpG_wA
And there were others:
Kristin Urquiza, whose father died of COVID-19, directly blamed President Trump for her family’s loss.
“My dad was a healthy 65-year-old. His only preexisting condition was trusting Donald Trump, and for that, he paid with his life,” said Urquiza. “The coronavirus has made it clear that there are two Americas: The America that Donald Trump lives in and the America that my father died in.”
Kristin said her dad voted for Trump in 2016, and now, she will vote for Biden. https://news.yahoo.com/kristin-urquiza-covid-father-death-trump-democratic-national-convention-023959942.html
Earlier in the day, former Trump Administration official Miles Taylor announced his support for Biden and publicly denounced the president. Taylor had served in the Department of Homeland Security under Trump between 2017 and 2019 and was former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen’s chief of staff.
“After serving for more than two years in the Department of Homeland Security’s leadership during the Trump administration, I can attest that the country is less secure as a direct result of the president’s actions,” Taylor wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post. https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-dhs-chief-of-staff-miles-taylor-endorses-joe-biden-accuses-trump-of-damaging-national-security
Following are a number YouTube videos of people – not stars, just every-day Republicans – who will vote for Biden this year. If you are on the fence, listen closely, then decide:
my3centsworth.com 